Our Christmas Window

Just a short one this week, this is our last day before we close for Christmas. Is everyone feeling festive? If you drove past our shop this week, you'd be sure that we're in the festive spirit. Our window this year has blown all previous ones out of the water. With help from Add A Little Sparkle Lancashire (our local wedding venue dressers), we have achieved a beautiful Winter Wonderland look.





If you couldn't tell by now, our colour scheme at the shop is purple, so we think the lights are very fitting. The dress in the window is Kayla (Click Here to see Kayla on our website) by Kay Mason. She is one of our most eye catching dresses, with a fitted sweetheart bodice covered with elegant embroidery and hundreds of sparkling diamantes, a real "wow" dress. The skirt has often been compared to a stunning waterfall by our brides, with a long train and five layers of tulle and satin underneath the top organza layer. Imagine what this dress looks like when you're walking down the aisle! Kayla looks beautiful with a full length sparkled veil, but a 72" hip length veil accentuates the bodice even more. However, because of the detailing on this dress, many brides don't even consider a veil, because they want the dress to shine through all by itself. Kayla comes in Off White (as pictured), White and Dark Ivory, in sizes 6 to 28.

How do you like our festive window? Comment below to tell us what you think. To see Add A Little Sparkle's Facebook page, click here. That's all for this week, hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and we will be back after Christmas for our two day sale on the 27th and 28th of December. If we don't see you there (but we hope we will!) have a lovely New Year and best wishes for 2014.

It's Christmas!!!

Is everyone getting excited for Christmas? We're only a couple of weeks away from the big day now, but at Especially For You, we are also looking forward to the after Christmas sales! We are preparing for our own sales on the 27th and 28th of December, on selected bridal dresses, bridesmaid dresses and accessories, with up to 75% off. We are stocking bridal that start from £100 and bridesmaids from £30, offers that are too good to miss. Below are a couple of dresses that are definitely in the sale, but beware, these are "Yours Only" dresses, which means we only have one left in a certain size or colour!  
When coming to shopping for sale dresses, it is a good idea to come with an idea of style, and be in the right mindset to buy, otherwise you may lose your perfect dress at the perfect price. 
The first dress we have in the sale is Eileen, a stunning satin gown with a ruched bodice and a puddle train. The zip up the back and the clean lines of the dress make this shape a chic and elegant style. This dress is available in Ivory in a size 14, and will be reduced from £240 by at least 35%. This dress is ideal for anyone who is thinking of having a simpler dress, or who is having an informal wedding. If the idea of having a huge train behind you is a bit overwhelming, and you think it is too much of a hassle (maybe you're getting married on a beach), Eileen could be the one for you.

The next dress is Lilly, something slightly different. We say this because we have made a few changes to the dress as she appears in these photographs. Originally, the taffeta skirt had many layers of tulle underneath it. We have removed all this tulle to leave a satin layer behind; we felt that this made the dress a little more elegant, and found that the dress suits more brides this way. We only have this dress available in Ivory in a size 14. The dress has a ruched skirt leading into a stunning train, and a flattering bodice embroidered with sparkling threads and beading. Lilly also has a lace up back that adds a little something extra to the dress overall. The dress will be reduced from£1,095 by at least 50%, to a price you can't afford to miss.


This is another dress, Angela, available in Ivory in a size 14 (we do love our Ivory). The fabric of this dress is a very silky satin, with beading just below the bust. The bodice becomes ruched around the zip and then flows into a beautiful train that would simply look amazing as you walked down the aisle. This dress was originally £970, but it will be reduced by at least 50%, a breathtaking price for a breathtaking dress! This is one of our favourite sale dresses, you should come along to our store after Christmas just to see this dress! Okay, maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but Angela really is that pretty.

The final dress that will definitely be in the sale is the Yours Only dress is called Eva. We wonder if you can guess the colour and size?! (We swear that we stock sizes and colours other than a 14 in Ivory).
However, this dress is slightly different, because it is a chiffon fabric, and this means the Ivory is slightly lighter than one might expect. The straps on this dress lead to a very stylish crossover back. The beading on Eva is very subtle and tasteful, only serving to enhance the dress's overall appearance. This dress was priced at £980 but will be reduced on sale day by at least 50%.

With all these amazing deals, can you afford NOT to come to Longridge for our special, after Christmas sale on the 27th and 28th of December? Ring (01772) 785 334 or visit our website www.especiallyforyoubridal.co.uk for more information on the sale. We are not booking anyone in for appointments over these two sale days, so come and see us any time between 10am and 4pm on the Friday and Saturday. See our blog contact page for our address (you might need it for your sat nav). Be sure to tell all your friends about the sale, we hope to see you soon.




A Post on Postboxes

In this blog we've looked at stationery before, but this week we just want to concentrate on postboxes. The immediate reaction of most people, when you ask whether they want a postbox to match their invitations and table plan, is "why do I need a postbox?".The main reason people have postboxes at their wedding to keep all the cards they receive safe. If all your cards are left on a table, it only takes one rogue glass of red wine, and the well-wishes of your guests may be damaged or unreadable. If anyone ever gets stuck on which colour to use on the box, we recommend all ivory, or ivory with the colour of the bridesmaid dresses (if this is the colour that you will use throughout you whole wedding).

Today, we want to show you how we make and decorate our bespoke postboxes, maybe to give you some inspiration and to show you how much work goes into creating our designs.

Flat Packed
Our postboxes come in white or ivory, and flat packed, IKEA style! We unwrap them and open them out, glueing down the bottom of the box with a hot glue gun (the crafter's very best friend). The lid is a bit more complicated, but after some careful folding and sticking, we're ready to decorate. It's that simple.

Wrapping Ribbon

   

The next step is something we do on every post box we make, and that is to wrap a ribbon around the box and over the lid to secure it in place. This is so you can ensure no one else goes inside the box before you do at the end of your big day, to get in the box you must cut the ribbon.


Cutting Hearts

We then add a message over the top corner of the box, or add an extra piece or ribbon tied as a bow. The message will usually say something like "Thank you for your gift" and could have your names and wedding date on it. A speciality of ours is to put the message in a little heart, and back it with another heart in a matching colour to the ribbon.

Glueing....


....And sticking!
Now we move onto the detail of the box. For this one, we decided on simple but elegant, so cut out some appliqué lace to add to the bottom of the box. We laid all the appliqué out on the box the we we wanted, and started glueing, just with plain old PVA. It was with the greatest precision that we then stuck down the lace; a piece out of place and the whole box would be ruined. All that was left to do was let this box dry. Here we have a picture of the final product. What do you think? Personally, we love it, but we were the ones who spent time making it, so you could say we were bound to love it!


















Here the box is with a few more of the boxes we have made. Although these ones are quite simple and understated, we do make complex postboxes as well. Whatever takes your fancy, we can make!

Got any ideas for future postbox designs we could try? Did you make one yourself and want to show us? Maybe you just want to give us your opinion on ours. Whatever it is, please tell us in the comments below, or email us with a picture at enquiries@especiallyforyoubridal.co.uk.